New Delhi:

Highly-skilled professionals from other countries who work in the United States will soon be able to renew their H-1B visas without having to leave the US, impacting hundreds of thousands of Indians working in specialised fields.

A year ago, the US Department of State had started a pilot project to test the process. It involved approximately 20,000 eligible participants who meet the requirements listed in the US Federal Register.

The pilot programme proved to be a success, and hence, the renewal of H-1B visas will not require the applicant to travel back to their home country for a stamp of renewal. This was a long-pending concern raised by professionals under this visa programme, most of whom are Indians. Besides the inconvenience of traveling half way around the world and spending lakhs of rupees on air tickets, the process was a tedious one involving the applicant to wait for a confirmed visa appointment which often led to long wait-times and subsequent delays.

The aim of the pilot project was to make the renewal process fast and convenient.

In the declaration made in its year-end press statement, the US Department of State said the pilot project for H-1B renewal “allowed many specialty occupation workers from India to renew their visas without leaving the United States. This pilot program streamlined the renewal process for thousands of applicants, and the Department of State is working to formally establish a US-based renewal program in 2025.”

Though the new process has been confirmed to start this year, a date from which the it will officially begin is yet to be announced.

This comes at a time when there is an intense debate over the H-1B visa and its job market impact for American citizens. The hard-right have urged incoming President Donald Trump to end the programme along with his other plans of curbing immigration. Many argue that the H-1B visa holders “take away American jobs” and are a “threat to western civilisation”.

However, Donald Trump and his top officials including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have backed the H-1B visa programme saying “America needs talented people”, and the H-1B allows for the world’s top talent to live and work in the US, which helps the United States stay ahead of the global curve on technology, research, and healthcare.

India tops the list of H-1B visa holders globally, most of whom work in the tech industry, followed by medical and research. According to US State Department data from 2022, as much as 77 per cent of 3,20,000 H-1B visa applications went to Indians. In 2023 too, out of 3,86,000 visas, more than 72 per cent were issued to Indian nationals.

At 3,31,000 student visas in 2024 alone, Indians now account for the highest number of international students pursuing a professional degree or higher education in the United States.

The US State Department further said that in the last four years, visitor numbers from India have increased by five times, and more than two million Indians traveled to the United States in the first eleven months of 2024, a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
 

Washington:

The United States is in touch with India and other countries in the region regarding the situation in Bangladesh and is seeking an end to the violence there, a State Department official has said.

“I’m not going to get into private diplomatic discussions but we continue to push for an end to violence in Bangladesh, accountability and for the respect for rule of law,” US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said at his daily news conference on Wednesday.

He was responding to a question regarding the communication between India and the US on the situation in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government.

“We have been in touch with our Indian partners as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events in Bangladesh,” Patel said.

He also welcomed Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ statement, calling for calm and an end to the recent violence. “We welcome the new government’s focus on restoring security and protection of members of minority communities as well,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, the Hindu American Foundation on Wednesday urged the White House to act to protect the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh.

“Latest reports are that the President (Joe Biden) is not commenting on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus despite continuing reports of attacks,” the foundation said.

“Demand Action Now! The silence from President, Vice President and Secretary Blinken on the atrocities against #BangladeshiHindus is unacceptable. Lives lost, homes & temples destroyed – yet no condemnation from our US government,” it said in a post on X.

Washington-based NGO HinduACTion claimed that Hindus in rural areas of Bangladesh are being targeted the most.

“Their remoteness allows the Islamists more freedom and time to target them. Now that Mohammad Yunus is the new caretaker leaders, should the Vice President and the State Department work towards enabling grassroots education and awareness that ensures that the country’s Madrassa curriculum and the public discourse is purged of its anti-Hindu theological content.

“We hope the president and his advisors realize that if Bangladesh loses the last eight per cent of its Hindus, it will be a Taliban state with a lot of tree canopy cover,” it said on X.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The United States is in touch with India and other countries in the region regarding the situation in Bangladesh and is seeking an end to the violence there, a State Department official has said.

“I’m not going to get into private diplomatic discussions but we continue to push for an end to violence in Bangladesh, accountability and for the respect for rule of law,” US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said at his daily news conference on Wednesday.

He was responding to a question regarding the communication between India and the US on the situation in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government.

“We have been in touch with our Indian partners as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events in Bangladesh,” Patel said.

He also welcomed Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ statement, calling for calm and an end to the recent violence. “We welcome the new government’s focus on restoring security and protection of members of minority communities as well,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, the Hindu American Foundation on Wednesday urged the White House to act to protect the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh.

“Latest reports are that the President (Joe Biden) is not commenting on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus despite continuing reports of attacks,” the foundation said.

“Demand Action Now! The silence from President, Vice President and Secretary Blinken on the atrocities against #BangladeshiHindus is unacceptable. Lives lost, homes & temples destroyed – yet no condemnation from our US government,” it said in a post on X.

Washington-based NGO HinduACTion claimed that Hindus in rural areas of Bangladesh are being targeted the most.

“Their remoteness allows the Islamists more freedom and time to target them. Now that Mohammad Yunus is the new caretaker leaders, should the Vice President and the State Department work towards enabling grassroots education and awareness that ensures that the country’s Madrassa curriculum and the public discourse is purged of its anti-Hindu theological content.

“We hope the president and his advisors realize that if Bangladesh loses the last eight per cent of its Hindus, it will be a Taliban state with a lot of tree canopy cover,” it said on X.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin embrace during an informal meeting at Novo-Ogaryovo residence, outside Moscow, Russia, on July 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States has raised concerns with India about its relationship with Russia amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told reporters on Monday in response to questions about a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

India has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Moscow after Russia invaded Ukraine. New Delhi has thus far resisted that pressure, citing its longstanding ties with Russia and its economic needs.

ALSO READ: PM Modi in Russia LIVE updates

Mr. Modi met Mr. Putin in Russia on Monday in the Prime Minister’s first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In a post on social media platform X, the Prime Minister said his talks with Mr. Putin “will surely go a long way in further cementing the bonds of friendship” between the two countries.

“I will look to Prime Minister Modi’s public remarks to see what he talked about but as I said, we have made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia,” a State Department spokesperson said in a press briefing.

“And so we would hope (that) India and any other country when they engage with Russia would make clear that Russia should respect the U.N. Charter, should respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

ALSO READ: PM Modi’s Moscow visit: Five areas to watch closely

Russia has been India’s largest weapons supplier since the Soviet Union days. However, India has also been seeking other options, as the Ukraine war hobbled Russia’s ability to supply munitions and spares.

Washington in recent years has looked to woo New Delhi, with political analysts saying the U.S. sees India as a counter to China in the Asia-Pacific.

While the West has tried to isolate Putin, China, India and powers in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have continued to build ties.

Washington:

The US State Department said on Saturday that the United States was “deeply concerned” over China’s military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan, and strongly urged it to act with restraint.

“Using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations risks escalation and erodes longstanding norms that for decades have maintained peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the State Department said in a statement.

The department issued the statement after China ended two days of war games around Taiwan in which it simulated attacks with bombers and practiced boarding ships, exercises that Taiwan condemned as “blatant provocation” on Saturday.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, launched the “Joint Sword – 2024A” exercises three days after Lai Ching-te became Taiwan’s president, a man Beijing calls a “separatist.”

Beijing said the exercises were “punishment” for Lai’s Monday inauguration speech, in which he said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were “not subordinate to each other,” which China viewed as a declaration the two are separate countries.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Reacting sharply to a report by the US State Department in which it said there were “significant human rights abuses” in Manipur after violence broke out in the state last year, India has said the document is deeply biased and reflects a poor understanding of the country. 

Responding to a question on the report during the Ministry of External Affairs’ weekly media briefing on Thursday, the Ministry’s Spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said, “This report is deeply biased and reflects a very poor understanding of India. We attach no value to it and urge you also to do the same.”

The executive summary of the ‘2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: India’, released recently, states that the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur resulted in “significant human rights abuses”. 

It also noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as “shameful” and called for action on the case.

The report, which is released by the State Department every year and is mandated by the US Congress, also mentioned a 60-hour search of the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices on February 14 and noted that the action came soon after the release of a documentary on PM Modi by the broadcaster.

“Although tax authorities described the search as motivated by irregularities in the BBC’s tax payments and ownership structure, officials also searched and seized equipment from journalists who were not involved in the organisation’s financial processes,” the report said. 

Another issue raised by the report was the conviction and sentencing of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a case related to defaming the Modi surname, which led to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha. Mr Gandhi was later reinstated after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction. 

Pointing out some positive developments as well, the report said that, in July last year, the government permitted a march in Srinagar, allowing Shias to mark Muharram. 

“This procession represented the first government-sanctioned recognition of the event in Srinagar since it was banned in 1989. The government imposed some restrictions on the use of slogans or the display of logos of any banned organisations,” it said.

Reacting to the news of arrests of journalists and personnel associated with NewsClick, the U.S. State Department reiterated its support for the media. Responding to a question on the arrests as well as the report (from the New York Times) that alleged NewsClick was part of a Chinese influence operation, Principle Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the State Department could not comment on the “veracity of the claims” that NewsClick had ties to the Chinese Government.

The U.S. Government has discussed with the Indian Government and others , “the importance of respecting the human rights of journalists” , including the freedom of expression.

“The US government strongly supports the robust role of the media globally, including social media, in a vibrant and free democracy,” he said.